A history of henry fords disastrous attempt to build an ideal american society on an amazonian rubber plantation. Inspired by the tropical ghost town, this project by studio swine imagined a world where fordlandia is a success, where nature and industry have entered a symbiotic relationship to create sustainably and beautifully. The inn wikipedia entry here was also the brainchild of henry ford. The rise and fall of henry fords forgotten jungle city by greg grandin kevin rushby enjoys the cautionary tale of one mans plans for a workers paradise.
Founded by henry ford in the late 1920s, fordlandia was the auto magnates illconceived attempt to establish a sprawling rubber plantation in the brazilian amazon. There is also a snack bar open for the duration of the trip on the back open deck where you can also have a smoke. The rise and fall of henry fords forgotten jungle city metropolitan books, promises to make its existence known to a wide audience. On henry fords 150th birthday, a look inside his failed. Henry fords failed rubber plantation in the middle of the amazon rain forest. Proving that truth can indeed be stranger than fiction, fordlandia is the story of henry fords illadvised attempt to transform raw brazilian rainforest into homespun slices of americana. Hammocks were banned, as was alcohol and other popular pleasures. Pulitzer prize finalist, national book awards finalist. But the most profound irony is currently on display at the very site of fords most ambitious attempt to realize his pastoralist vision. Fordlandia 0 points 1 point 2 points 15 days ago thats not completely true if youre living in a country where your target language is spoken. Ive reached b2c1 level have no problems holding a conversation, as long as its not about politics or gardening and thats with minimal learning of the actual language since i was busy with. Fordlandia, as the settlement was called, quickly became the site of an epic clash. Here are some of the best books set in the dutch capital. One of the surprises in greg grandins compelling new book is just how wrongheaded the worlds greatest industrialist was.
Ford realized that when visitors came to the detroit area via ford airport in dearborn, michigan, they did so without a place to stay so mr. Fordlandia is a haunting, evocative novel at whose core lies a nugget of fact. Much has already been written about henry fords illfated amazonian experiment, fordlandia. At that time the sole source of rubber was the south american tree hevea brasiliensis, whose sap is natural latex. The rise and fall of henry fords forgotten jungle city is a fascinating story of an extraordinary attempt to impose a vision of the american way of life in the amazon jungle, written by a professor of latin american history at new york university. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading leeram in fordlandia. The plantations of fordlandia and belterra were two attempts by the ford motor company from 19281945 to establish a permanent rubber plantation presence in brazil.
If youve never heard of fordlandia, youre not alone. Come and join us on a tour of this fabulous city both past and present. The plan was to harvest the rubber and ship it back to detroit, where it would be turned into tires and other parts for ford cars. Here is the truly epic tale of american adventurers dispatched by henry ford in 1928 to conquer and.
In 1929, henry ford, presiding in divine authority over his automobile empire, grew tired of the british monopoly on brazilian rubber. Leeram in fordlandia is a wickedly subversive tale of an otherwise normal man who owns a shrunken head from the brazilian rain forest. Few people are aware that henry ford tried to build the worlds largest rubber plantation on the banks of the amazon river. The fast boat from santarem to fordlandia takes 5 hours, may 4 and a half. In 1927, ford acquired land in northern brazil, and envisioned creating a booming rubber plantation and town.
A city forged in adversity, the triumph of will and the product of the daring imagination of henry ford. The rise and fall of henry fords forgotten jungle city, by greg grandin, picador 2009, cover design by rodrigo corral. It is bounded by the north sea on the north and west, by belgium on the south, and by germany on the east. The fall by albert camus 1956 jeanbaptiste clamence, the narrator of this acclaimed philosophical novel by camus, likens the concentric canals that make up central amsterdam to the circles of hell. School building, fordlandia, brazil, 1933 the henry ford. Project managers today are challenged by managing projects across different cultures and in different countries, and they need to understand the principles of global project management and understand the impact of culture on projects. Fordlandia henry fords forgotten jungle city failure. One of the surprises in greg grandins compelling new book is just how wrong headed the worlds greatest industrialist was. In the early 20th century, a cartel of dutch and english rubber barons had a stranglehold on the vast majority of the worlds supply of rubber. Readers of greg grandins fordlandia, which was a finalist for the. Pages in category novels set in the netherlands the following 44 pages are in this category, out of 44 total. In the late 1920s, automobile tycoon henry ford transplanted a little piece of the united states to the middle of brazils amazon jungle. If you are the publisher or author of this book and.
Now accepting submissions for our blog series posts from the pandemic. Where civilisation conquers the wild and untamed heart of the great amazon rainforest. It was established by american industrialist henry ford in the. The rise and fall of henry fords forgotten jungle city. Fordlandias most striking building is set back from the river, on a knoll about half a mile in. The journalist walter lippmann identified in henry ford, for all his peculiarity, a common strain of primitive americanism. To this day is called fordlandia fordland, an area equivalent to the state of maryland2, in the middle of the brazilian rain forest. Gilbert and leeram travel with a small band of oddballs, including a real amazon woman, down to a long abandoned rubber plantation set up in the last century by henry ford to supply tires for his model ts. Henry ford established fordlandia and belterra in the brazilian rainforest to supply rubber for automobile production. Here are 10 of our favourite books set in amsterdam as rated by the tripfiction community and in no particular order. To understand fordlandia we have first to go back to the roaring twenties3 when henry ford, similarly to bill gates today, was the most influential single person to define corporate life, for good and bad.
In the tapajos valley, three prominent elements of fords visionlumber, which he hoped to profit from while at the same time finding ways to conserve nature. The goal of setting up the ford motor company of brazil was twofold. Fordlandias eventual demise as a rubber plantation foreshadowed the practices that today are laying. List of books and articles about netherlands history. He began shipping machinery and supplies to the amazon in 1928. In january 2009, al jazeera went to fordlandia in the brazilian amazon to see the mythical place that henry ford created to cultivate rubber to make tires for his automotive industry and found a. The rise and fall of henry fords forgotten jungle city ebook. In the 1920s the us industrialist wanted to found a city based on the values that made his company a success while, of course, producing cheap rubber. And greg grandins book on fordlandia is simply magical. With sales of his modelt booming, the automotive tycoon saw an opportunity to expand his reach further by exploiting a downtrodden brazilian rubber. Ford paid the indigenous workers good wages and supplied various amenities he also imposed foreign work traditions and behavioral restrictions which the workers resented. Following is an edited version of failure s interview with grandin, who visited fordlandia on two occasions during the course of his research. So, with signature hubris, ford decided he would produce his own rubber and set about colonizing the amazon, ultimately investing millions and founding an. Inlandia books is an independent imprint of the inlandia institute publishing books by writers who live or work in andor write about inland socal.
Last century, ford motor company created a massive international project to start a new rubber plantation in the amazon region of brazil. Greg grandin is the author of fordlandia, empires workshop, the last colonial massacre, and the awardwinning the blood of guatemala. The author began series publication in 2007 when the first book in the series new amsterdam was published. It is located on the east banks of the tapajos river roughly 300 kilometres 190 mi south of the city of santarem. New amsterdam is a set of novels written by a bestselling american author of fantasy and science fiction genres, elizabeth bear. Ultimately, fordlandia was sold back to the brazilian government in 1945 and left to decay. Fordlandia was the prefabricated town at the heart of a rubber plantation deep in brazils amazonian hinterland, intended to supply tyres for the ford car companys north american factories. A literary journey, inlandias online literary journal, are closed.
It has comfortable seats, ac and tv which you will probably not want to watch. Deep in brazils amazon, exploring the ruins of fords. The industrialists conviction that he could make the world conform to his will was founded on a faith that success in economic matters should, by extension, allow capitalists to try their hands with equal success at every other occupation. To industrialize the jungle, things would need to be built, and beyond importing entire buildings, railways, fire hydrants, he imported raw. Spending his nights in a redlight district bar, clamence situates himself. Fordlandia was a failure, but the dearborn inn was a success. It was established by american industrialist henry ford in the amazon. Ford cleared more than 8,000sqkm for his plantation, and built rows of cape codstyle bungalows for workers, as well as a school, hospital, golf course and dance hall.
Sawmill, firehouse and water tower in fordlandia, brazil, historical images via the henry ford. Its a wreck of a hundred bed hospital built from a sketch by albert kahn, the architect of. Leeram in fordlandia kindle edition by hollister, buell. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The rise and fall of henry fords forgotten jungle city by grandin, greg isbn. Yet if fordlandia can feel claustrophobic at times, it more often reminds us that the line between inspiration and delusion is a thin one, as indistinguishable in many ways as that which separates history from mythology. On one side was the car magnate, lean, austere, the man who reduced industrial production to its simplest motions.
1453 343 853 1147 1002 1533 1274 1050 1323 990 1226 1213 825 174 363 1542 439 153 1037 868 800 924 524 1581 1185 926 719 1171 1286 1644 303 291 449 303 545 56 678 1319 1296 475